Are We About To See Rashford Re-born?

Marcus Rashford made his name in a Manchester United shirt during a Europa League match against FC Midtjylland on February 25th, 2016.

Rashford was named on the bench for the tie. However, during the match warm-up, an injury to Anthony Martial meant the 18-year old was to make his debut in the starting XI.

The youngster went on to score a brace which was immediately followed up by another brace against old rivals, Arsenal, in his Premier League debut.

Marcus Rashford celebrates scoring in his Premier League debut against Arsenal [IBTimes UK]For various reasons we need not go into right now, Marcus Rashford has had his development somewhat stumped since his breakthrough season.

But things could be about to change.

The Daily Express have reported that during an interview with Norwegian TV2, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has suggested that the team needs to “use him more”. The Manchester United legend and interim boss goes on to say that Rashford makes many fantastic runs and that the other players just aren’t used to it.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer celebrates victory at Old Trafford [Sports Illustrated]Furthermore, Solskjear has also suggested that he will work with the youngster on his close-range finishing. He had this to say:

“His speed is his strength. I’m going to work with him on his finishing. He’s just got to calm down a little bit.

“He’s got a great strike from outside the box and inside the box we’ll just keep on working on being cool and calm and pass it past the keeper.”

On a personal level, over the last season or two, I had become frustrated with Rashford. His performances have often been below par – though not through lack of trying – and to suggest that he hasn’t had had a lot of opportunities would be naive and quite frankly, wrong.

Marcus Rashford seemed to struggle at times under previous manager, Jose Mourinho [ESPN]So it’s both refreshing and promising to hear (read) these words from Solskjaer but, it begs the question, was Jose Mourinho not coaching Rashford in the same way? Would a world-class manager really not coach a player who could well become a star?

It has always been said that Jose Mourinho doesn’t promote or trust youth and that he instead prefers “ready made” players – a statement I have previously disputed. Maybe it’s true that he isn’t a “coach” in the traditional sense, at least.

Well, I guess we’re about to find out. We could indeed see Marcus Rashford re-born very soon and you know what? I’m quite excited about it.